This is bugging me and I feel lost

[curtins]

ok So for the past 14 years of my life I always considered I'd grow up and get married. Even after reverting I thought that. The past 6 months have changed that. Specifically the past few weeks. I really now don't know what God is calling me to do and now the priesthood is an obvious consideration. To be quite truthfull, I really don't wanna be a priest. I know its about what God wants and not me so I hope that if he really is calling me to the priesthood, he will help me accept it. Maybe it also doesn't help the fact that I'm an adolecant male and staying chaist is hard enough. The idea of being celebate for the rest of my life and/or not being able to be in love with or marry a girl REALLY scares me. So maybe its just the point in life that I'm in right now. Or maybe all Catholics who are seriously serious about their faith consider the priesthood or relgious life at some point or another. Or maybe God really is calling me. If I am called to the priesthood I want to know FOR SURE though that thats what it is. Its just frustrating to not really know what your supposed to do. But I guess God will take care of that in due time. I suppose what I'm really worried about is not being sure thus if I meet a girl that I really like and not knowing what I'm supposed to do or if I can date her or not etc etc.

I guess I just gotta trust in God.


im tired

thank you pham for listening
God bless

[philothea]

Hmm, you feel lost but you're going to trust God? Sounds like you're doing fine to me...

I know it must be hard.

[thessalonian]

Prayers going up.

[Christie_M]

I agree with philothea. :
I'm kinda in the same boat.
but you have a couple of years to figure out what God has planned.
Teen years are tough! lol

[beatty07]

For what it's worth, I remember. Me, I ended up in the seminary. You, who knows...but your attitude is just right. I hate to say it, but get ready for the long haul. This may go on for a VERY long time. It will not be easy to maintain that great God-trusting attitude...not that it's easy now!

One day, if you are faithful and open, you will wake up and look around you, and be absolutely certain that you are doing exactly what God wants you to do. It won't be the end of your struggles, but it will be awesome! I can't even describe the feeling when you finally get there, the peace way down inside your heart, the absolute confidence that "this is what I was born to do!"

Whatever your vocation is, that day will come. One thing that helps me is to meditate on Gethsemane. I figure if I'm going to follow Jesus in my life, that means sooner or later I'm going to end up on my knees alone. Praying with all my heart, "God, I don't want to do this." And adding quietly "but Thy will be done." And knowing that at that moment you are most pleasing to your Lord, and that He will exalt you greatly and with a quickness!

Don't fear any vocation...they're all awesome and they all demand more than you think you can possibly give!

[missionseeker]

[quote name='curtins' date='Nov 6 2005, 12:07 AM'] Its just frustrating to not really know what your supposed to do. But I guess God will take care of that in due time.
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that is sooooooooo true.

[photosynthesis]

Pray, hope, and don't worry! God's got it all under control... You're young still, and God has plenty of time to work in you.

The point of discerning ANY vocation is to grow in holiness. Discerning religious life/priesthood, dating/courtship, and exploring single life all are supposed to help you grow in holiness. Jesus tells us, "Take up your cross and follow me." Everyone has their own cross to bear. I used to be afraid of certain vocations... I was afraid of religious life because my family would disown me. I was afraid of marriage because I didn't think a man could love me. I was afraid of single life, because I was afraid of lonely. I don't like to admit this, but in my mind I was thinking--which of these vocations would be the least painful one?

But one day I was in the adoration chapel, and in my mind I had this picture of three crosses, one was married life, another was religious life, another was single life, and they were all the same size. I started thinking--It doesn't matter which vocation I am called to--they all have their own joys and sufferings. The most painful choice is to choose something that was not in God's will.

I'm 22, and I have no clue what vocation God might be calling me to. but whatever it is, I know it will be perfect.

You'll be in my prayers.

[scardella]

Sometimes I still feel like that, and I'm 24. I've been struggling with bouts like this since I was 17 or so.

Overall, though, it's tough! Just be faithful to God and He'll help you figure it out. Don't be anxious about your vocation, if you can. Just focus on Him. It'll come out naturally if you focus on Him and allow God to reveal you to you. I should be preaching to myself, I know. Discernment isn't over until you say "I do" or you take those final vows. I was engaged once, and I'm not married now. Sometimes it seems like God allows people who are really trying to follow Him more difficulties than others who do not. A good father disciplines his children. However, He gives us nothing we cannot handle. I've been taken far and away beyond what I thought I could handle, yet I'm still here. A diamond takes years and years of crushing pressure to form, but it becomes the most beautiful of all stones.

I'll say a prayer for you, too.

[Jaime]

[quote]Or maybe all Catholics who are seriously serious about their faith consider the priesthood or relgious life at some point or another.[/quote]

Emphatically no.

I'm pretty sure that you made that statement innocently, but its a little offensive.

[photosynthesis]

priesthood and religious life aren't for everyone... so why should everyone have to discern those vocations?

[Seven77]

I feel kind of the same way. and i'm 28.. and i'm in a wheelchair... so i really dont know.

tell you what, ill pray for you. please pray for me. Our Lady takes care of us.

[tojo]

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Nov 6 2005, 02:20 PM']priesthood and religious life aren't for everyone...  so why should everyone have to discern those vocations?
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Wouldn't most people at least wonder a bit if it is for them though?

[Jaime]

[quote name='tomasio127' date='Nov 6 2005, 02:41 PM']Wouldn't most people at least wonder a bit if it is for them though?
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Do some who are serious about their faith consider a vocation? Yes

Are there some who are serious about their faith that have never considered it? Yes.

Its the inference that "if you're serious about your faith, you will consider a vocation at some point" that is (unintentionally) offensive. There are many folks around these parts who are very serious about their faith and haven't given a thought to a vocation.

[Socrates]

[quote name='curtins' date='Nov 5 2005, 11:07 PM']ok So for the past 14 years of my life I always considered I'd grow up and get married. Even after reverting I thought that. The past 6 months have changed that. Specifically the past few weeks. I really now don't know what God is calling me to do and now the priesthood is an obvious consideration. To be quite truthfull, I really don't wanna be a priest. I know its about what God wants and not me so I hope that if he really is calling me to the priesthood, he will help me accept it. Maybe it also doesn't help the fact that I'm an adolecant male and staying chaist is hard enough. The idea of being celebate for the rest of my life and/or not being able to be in love with or marry a girl REALLY scares me. So maybe its just the point in life that I'm in right now. Or maybe all Catholics who are seriously serious about their faith consider the priesthood or relgious life at some point or another. Or maybe God really is calling me. If I am called to the priesthood I want to know FOR SURE though that thats what it is. Its just frustrating to not really know what your supposed to do. But I guess God will take care of that in due time. I suppose what I'm really worried about is not being sure thus if I meet a girl that I really like and not knowing what I'm supposed to do or if I can date her or not etc etc.

I guess I just gotta trust in God.
  im tired

thank you pham for listening
God bless
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There is no reason to get all worried about this, especially so early in life.
Be open to God's call, but no need to get all anxious about it. Like you said, you "just gotta trust God."
No need to excessively avoid dating or girls because you think that this might "go against God's will." Sometimes you need to go through a period of discernment. God will show you the way.

[curtins]

thanks for all the replies people. I appologize if I offended anyone idk it just seems like it would be a logical thought process for people who follow their faith to at some point at least wonder if God is calling them to the religous life (unless God came to you and said "you are to be married") maybe I'm wrong.

I guess what really got me thinking and maybe even worrying was I went to vocation.com and was reading the FAQ's. What really worried me was like if you have thoughts of becoming a priest you shouldn't date. I'm kinda afraid that because I have these thoughts about the priesthood people are gonna shove it down my throat that I am to be a priest no questions about it- when im pretty much 50/50 at this point and I have no clue.

Another thing that bugs me is because I try to live my faith in an outward way, people automattically assume I'm going to be a priest and call me "Father". that really bugs me. its like ive known myself for my whole life and I've litterally known you for 2 months- yet somehow you know exactly what I'm called to be.

[photosynthesis]

[quote name='curtins' date='Nov 6 2005, 04:57 PM']I guess what really got me thinking and maybe even worrying was I went to vocation.com and was reading the FAQ's. What really worried me was like if you have thoughts of becoming a priest you shouldn't date.
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I'm not a vocations director, so take this with a grain of salt... but if you are young and not SERIOUSLY discerning religious life/priesthood, then I think dating is a good thing, if it is a type of relationship that can help you grow in holiness. If you're at the point where you're filling out applications for seminaries, or visiting religious communities and talking to vocations directors, dating would be inappropriate. But please talk to a priest about this!

[DAF]

[quote]people automattically assume I'm going to be a priest and call me "Father". [/quote]

haha, you have no idea how familiar that sounds to me. I can't even tell you how many times people have just randomly told me that either i should be a priest, or that i am definitively going to be a priest. I was like...what? why? Then i jsut stopped asking and saying thank you. I figured maybe God's trying to tell me something.

currently though, i am 99.9% sure i want o join the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, as a lay religious, not a priest. There's no way I would dream of taking God's gifts to the world into my own hands.

But like everybody's been saying. Just keep on keeping on. Don't worry about it. You've got some time before you have to make up your mind (or before God makes it up for you), and if you slip up, our God is most forgiving. He'll understand.

And anyway, Jesus knew he was going to be beaten and nailed to a piece of wood, and he accepted his cross (punn intended) with humility. Jesus is your brother, he knows what you're goig through. And you're certainly not alone.

In Christ,